Bacon-stringing machine



M a d 1922 5 sheefs-sheet 1 J. DVORAK BACON STRINGING MACHINE Filed Nov. 6,

Apr. 3, 1 923.

Apr. 3, 1923. 1,450,667

J. DVORAK I BACON STRINGING MACHINE Fil ed Nov. 6, 1922 s sheets-sheet 2 J. DVORAK I BACON STRINGING MACHINE Fi1ed Nov. 6, 1922' 5 sheets-sheet 5 altoz ucq Patented Apr. 3, 1923.

UNITED STATES JOHN DVORAK, OF CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA.

BACON-STRINGING MACHINE.

Application filed November 6, 1922. Serial No. 599,311.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN DVORAK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cedar Rapids, in the county of Linn and State of Iowa, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in Bacon-Stringing Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bacon stringing machines, or more particularly to machines for applying hangers to pieces or slabs of bacon. 1

The object of the invention is to provide a machine for applying the ordinary wire hangers, now in common use, to pieces or slabs of bacon, whereby the time, labor and expense of applying said hangers by hand, as it has heretofore been done, is obviated.

A further object of the invention is to provid a machine of this sort, whereby the pieces or slabs of bacon are pressed to shape with substantially straight parallel side edges and substantially at right angles to the ends of the pieces or slabs, thereby giving the pieces of bacon a more compact, sightly and shapely appearance than heretofore when the hangers have been applied by hand.

The invention consists in a machine for applying hangers to pieces of bacon, comprising a framework or table, means mounted upon said frame-work or table to clamp and press to shape the pieces of bacon, and means also mounted upon'said frame-work to force a hanger into the pieces of bacon when in the clamped and pressed condition.

The invention, also consists in providing such a machine with means whereby the edge of the piece of bacon, with the hanger applied, may be lifted from the table without disturbing the position of the hanger or distorting the shape of the bacon after being pressed.

The invention further consists in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, all substantially as I will proceed now more particularly to set forth and finally claim.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the invention, in the several views of which like parts are similarly designated,

Figure 1, is a front elevation,

Figure 2, is a vertical transverse section of the upper portion of the machine, taken substantially in the plane of line 22, Fig. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows,

some of the parts of the machine being I omitted, and showing the clamping and pressing mechanism,

Figure 3, is a longitudinal vertical section, taken substantially in the plane of line 3-3 Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing the lifting portion of the table in elevated position and a piece of bacon with hanger attached in place.

Figure 4, is a top planview, showing parts only of the operating mechanism beneat-h the table in dotted lines,

Figure 5, is a perspective view, on alarger scale, of a portion of the upper part of the machine with a piece of bacon in place with the hanger applied, and the clamping and hanger applying fingers in receding positions, and

Figure 6, is a broken detail perspective view, on a larger scale, of portion ofthe operating mechanism for the hanger driving or forcing fingers.

As shownin the drawings, the invention consists of a frame-work or table, which may be constructed of any suitable material, and comprising a top 1, preferably of wood, supporting legs 2, of angle iron as herein shown, side braces 3, 3, front and rear braces land 5,r espectively, anda brace 6 affording a support for the underside of the front or operative end of the table top, all of said braces being herein shown as of angle 11'011.

The front of the table top is provided with a facing board 7, having an upstanding central portion 8 extending above the surface of the table to form a stop for the pieces of bacon as they are laid upon the table. I i

At the front of the machine and about centrally thereof, the table top land the facing 7 is out out to form a rectangular loose block section 1, hinged at 1 and provided with a handle 1, by which said block section may be raised and lowered for a purpose hereinafter described.

Suitably spaced guide-rods 9, 9, are arranged at the front of the table, and supported in any suitable manner between the top 1 of the table and upon the front brace 41- as by being stepped in said brace, as shown at 10, in Figs. 1 and 3.

Mounted upon the guide rods 9, are slideblocks 11, 11, and pivotally connected, as at 12, with said slide-blocks, as by links 13, 13, is a swinging bar 14; extending across the of a set screw 22, is an adjustable operating handle 23 projecting outwardly and beyond the front of the machine.

Pivotally connected to the outer sides of v the guide-blooks, as at 24, are hanger-driving arms 25, 25, extending upwardly through slots or guideways 26, 26, in the top of the table, and provided with an angular slot 27, adapted to engage pins 28, fixed in the table top. The arms 25 are provided at their upper ends with inwardly extending hangerengaging and forcing fingers 29.

Slidably mounted in the top of the table, and longitudinally thereof, are two opposing press-boards or bars 30, 30, each of said boards being provided with a pair of rightangled operating arms 31, rigidly connected at one end to the outer walls of the pressboards, and having their .otherarms extending downwardly and through elongated slots 32 in the table top, and each pair of arms below the table top being connected by slide- & bars 33, 33, adapted to engage at their opposite ends guides 34, 34, secured to the un dcrside of the table and adapted'to support and guide the arms 31 and their attached pressboards 30 in their travel forward and backward in the operation of the machine.

A pair of rock-shafts 35, 35, are suitably supported within the frame of the machine, and as shown in Figs. 1,2 and 3, these shafts are supported in bearings 36, fixed upon angle irons 37 connected with the side braces 3, and extending across the machine at front and rear.

Secured to the rock-shafts are lever arms 38 extending upwardly and pivotally connected with the lower ends of the presserbar arms 31 by means of links 39. Also fixed to the rock-shafts 35 are weighted arms 40 extending outwardly toward the sides of the machine and arranged substantially at rightangles to the arms 38. Also mounted upon and fixed to the rock-shafts 35 are arms 41 extending inwardly toward the center of the machine and connected with a head-block 42. by means of links 43, the said head-block 42 being pivotally connected with a pull-rod 44, which at its lower end is pivotally connected at 45 with a foot-lever 46 pivotally supported in brackets 47 fixed upon the rearbrace 5 of the frame-work of the machine. The said foot-lever 46 projects forwardly,

of the machine and passes through a downwardly projecting guide 48 fixed to and depending from the front brace 4. The footlever 46 is provided with the foot-pedal 49 to receive the operators foot in the operation of the machine.

Pivotally supported from the upper end of the guide 48, by means of a clamping screw 49 is a toothed bar 50, the teeth of which are so arranged as to engage the footlever 46, and hold it against upward or return movement, the said toothed bar being capable of adjustment by means of its clamping pivot-screw 49* so that said bar may be adjusted at different angles or inclinations relatively to the travel of the foot-lever, and thereby serving as a stop for the foot-lever to limit the return movement of the footlever to the desired extent, as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

The operation of the machine is as follows :The parts of the machine being in the position shown in full lines, Figure 1, the operator places a slab or strip of bacon upon the table between the presser bars 30 and positions its forward edge against the upstanding portion 8 of the facing board 7, and placing his foot upon the pedal 49 depresses the lever 46, and through the lever connections forces the presser-barsor boards 30 inward toward each other into engagement with the longitudinal side edges of the bacon, and thereby centers the slab or strip of bacon upon the table and with relation to the hinged section 1 thereof, and by further pressure upon the foot-lever by the operator the sides of the slab or strip of bacon are forcibly pressed to shape and into substantial parallelism and at substantially right-angles to the ends of the piece of bacon, thereby shaping up the piece of bacon to a compact and symmetrical outline, and of a sightly appearance, thereby avoiding the necessity of trimming off of ill-shaped corners and the consequent waste, as heretofore in the hand production of slabs or strips of bacon. f

After the piece or strip of bacon has thus been clamped and pressed to shape, the operator maintains the pressure upon the footpedal, and places a hanger, of the pronged wire hook type, such as that shown in Figure 5, in position upon and along the front edge of the piece of bacon, and grasps and presses down upon the hand-lever 23, forcing down the guide-blocks 11 through the links 13, thereby causing said guide-blocks to exert a downward pull upon the hangerdriving arms 25, which by means of the angular slots '27, and their engaging pins 28, are caused to move inward and downward, and the fingers 29, of the hangerdriving arms engaging the pronged portions of the. hanger, will forcibly drive the prongs into the slab of bacon and secure the hanger in place. The operator then releases the pressure upon the foot-lever 46 and handlever 23, and the parts of the machine returned to normal position by the weights l6 and 40, of the lever connections of the hanger driving mechanism and the bacon clamping and pressing mechanism, respectively, ready to repeat the operation, it being necessary only for the operatorto grasp the handle 1 of the lifting-block 1 and raise said block to lift the end of the bacon with the hanger attached above the main portion of the table, so that it may readily be grasped andremoved from the table without disturbing the position of the hanger or distorting the shape of the piece of bacon. The machine is then ready for the placing of another piece or strip of bacon and a repetition of the operation just before described.

As shown in Figure 1, the handle 23 is positioned with respect to the foot-treadle 46, for right-hand operation, but it is obvious, that the handle 23 may be adjusted by means of its set screw 22 upon the rod 14, to the other or left-hand side of the foottreadle, whereby the machine may be operated by a left-handed operator.

It-is well known that strips or pieces of bacon vary in width, and in order to avoid the unnecessary upward travel of the footpedal and the operators foot in operating upon pieces or strips of bacon of smaller widths or sizes, the toothed bar 50 may be adjusted as hereinbefore described to limit the upward or return movement of the footlever 46 and the outward movement of the presser-bars 30, according to the width of the pieces or strips of bacon being operated Although I have herein shown and described manually operated means for operat ing and controlling the clamping and pressing mechanism and the hanger driving mechanism, it will be obvious that the machine with slight alteration and suitable con nections for motor power, could be readily run by power, and, therefore, I do not wish to be understood as limiting the invention herein to a manually operated machine.

It will be understood also that the invention is not limited to the details of construction, combination and arrangement'of parts herein shown and described, as the same may be changed or altered in various particulars and still be within the scope of the following claims.

lVhat I claim is 1. In a bacon stringing machine, a table for supporting the bacon, presser boards slidably mounted upon said table, and means for moving said presser-boards simultaneously toward each other in parallelism to force them into engagement with the edges of said bacon to clamp and press the bacon &

to shape with substantially parallel sides at right angles to the ends thereof.

2. In a bacon stringing machine, a table for supporting the bacon, and hanger driving arms mounted in said table,-and means for moving said armsinto engagement with the hanger to forcibly drive the hanger into the bacon.

8. In a baconstringing machine, a table for supporting the bacon, means for clamping and pressing the side edges of the bacon to shape, and means for forcibly driving a hanger in the end of the bacon when in such clamped and pressed condition.

4. In a bacon stringing machine, a table for supporting the bacon, means for clamping and pressing the side edges of the bacon to shape, means for forcibly driving a hanger in the end of the bacon when in such clamped and pressed condition, and means for lifting the hanger end of the bacon from the table, whereby the bacon may be readily removed from the table without disturbing the hanger or distorting the shape of the bacon.

5. In a bacon stringing machine, a table for supporting the bacon, presser-boards slidably mounted upon said table, leverconnections between said presser-boards, and means for applying power to said connections to cause said presser-boards to move toward each other to clamp and press to shape the side edges of the bacon, and means for retracting said presser-boards.

6. In a bacon stringing machine, a table for supporting the bacon, presser-boards slidably mounted upon said table, lever connections between said presser-boards and means for applying power to said connections to cause said presser-boards to move toward each other to clamp and press to shape the side edges of the bacon, and means for automatically moving the presser-boards away from the bacon when the power is released.

7. In a bacon stringing machine, a table for supporting the bacon, presser-boards slidably mounted upon said table, lever connections between said presser-boards and means for applying power to said connections to cause said presser-boards to move toward each other to clamp and press to shape the side edges of the bacon, means for forcibly driving a hanger into one end of thebacon when in clamped and pressed condition, and means for automatically retracting the pres Serf-boards and the hanger driving means.

8. In a bacon stringing machine, a table having an upstanding edge at its front and adapted to support and engage the hanger end of a strip of bacon, presser-boards slidably mounted, upon said table, lever connections between said presser-boards andmeans for applying power to said connections to cause said presser-boards to move toward each other to clamp and press to shape the side edges of the bacon, means for forcibly driving a hanger in the front end of the bacon when in clamped and pressed condition, means for automatically retracting the presser-boards and the hanger driving means, and a hinged block at the front end of the table for lifting the hanger end of the bacon from the table "for easy removal therefrom without disturbing the hanger or distorting the shape of the bacon. 9. In a bacon stringing machine, a tabl tor supporting a strip of bacon, presserboards slidaloly mounted upon said table, armsconnected to said presser-boards, guides for said arms mounted on said table, rockshatts mounted on said table, a foot treadle also mounted on said table, lever connections between the a ms of said presser-boards, rockshafts, and foot-treadle to cause said presserboards to move toward each other when pressure is applied to the foot-treadle to clamp and press to shape the strip of bacon, and means for automatically retracting the presser-boards when the pressure on said treadle is released.

10. In a bacon stringing machine, a table for supporting a strip of bacon, presserboards slidably mounted upon said table arms connected to said presserboards, guides for said arms mounted on said table, rock-shafts mounted on said table, a foot treadle also mounted on said table,lever connections between the arms of said presserboards, rock-shafts, and toot-treadle to cause said presser-boards to move toward each other when pressure is applied at the footreadle to clamp and press to shape the strip of bacon, and weighted arms fixed to said rock-shafts for automatically retracting the presser-boards when pressure on the treadle is released 11. In a bacon stringing machine, a table for supporting the bacon comprising a top and a supporting frame-work therefor, a pair of presserbars slidably mounted upon said table, right-angled arms connected to said bars and extending through slots in said table top, guide bars fixed to and carried by said. arms, guides secured to the under side of said table top in which said guide bars are slidably mounted, rock-shafts mounted in the frame-work of said table, lever and link connections between said rock-shafts and the guide-bars of said presser-bar arms, a footlever, a pull-rod connected to said foot-lever,

and lever and link connections between said pull-rod and the said rock-shafts, whereby upon pressure applied to said foot-lever the pressure-bars are caused to move toward each other to clamp and press to shape the strip of bacon placed upon the table, and means for automatically retracting the presser-bars upon release of pressure on the'footlever.

'12. In a bacon stringing machine, a table for supporting the vbacon comprising a top and a supporting frame-work therefor, a pair of nesser-bars slidably mounted upon said table, right-angled arms connected to said bars andextending through slots in said table top, guide bars fixed to and carried by said arms, uides secured to the under side of said table top in which said guide bars are slidably mounted, rock-shafts mounted in the frame-work of said table, lever and link connections between said rock-shafts and the guide-bars of said presser-bar arms, a foot-lever, a pull-rod connected to said foot-lever, and lever and link connections between said pull-rod and the said rock-shafts, whereby upon pressure applied to said footlever the presser-bars are caused to move toward each other to clamp and press to shape the strip of bacon placed upon the table, a guide for said foot lever, and an adjustable stop ,for limiting the upward or return movement of the foot-lever.

18. In a bacon stringing machine, a table for supporting the bacon, means for clamping and pressingto shape a strip oi bacon on said table, hanger driving arms mounted in saidtable and having an angular slot adapted to engage a fixed pin in said table and provided with inwardly projecting hanger engaging portions, and means for exerting a, downward pull on said arms to move said arms downward and inward and cause the hanger engaging portions to engage and forcibly drive the hanger into the end of the strip of bacon, and means to automatically retract the hanger driving arms.

14. In a bacon stringing machine, a table for supporting a strip of bacon, means for clamping and pressing to Shape said bacon, hanger driving arms mounted in said table and having an angular slot adapted to en gage a fixed pin in said table and provided with inwardly projecting hanger-engaging portions, guide rods fixed in said table, slideblocks mounted upon said guide-rods and pivotally connected to said hanger driving arms, and means for exerting a downward pull upon said slide-blocks, to cause said arms to move downward and inward and into engagement with a hanger and to forcibly drive the hanger into the end of the bacon, and means for retracting the hangerdriving arms.

15. In a bacon stringing machine, a table for supporting a strip of bacon, means for clamping and pressing to shape said bacon, hanger driving arms mounted in said table and having an angular slot adapted to engage a pin fixed in said table and provided with inwardly projecting hanger engaging portions, guide rods fixed in said table, slide-blocks mounted upon said guiderods and pivotally connected to said hanger driving arms, a swinging rod pivotally mounted in said table and having a handle for swinging the same, and arms fixed to said swinging rod and pivotally connected with said slide-blocks, whereby downward pressure upon said swinging rod will exert a downward pull upon said slide blocks and move said hanger-driving arms downward and inward and into engagement with the hanger to forcibly drive the hanger into the bacon, and means for automatically raising said swinging rod to retract the hangerdriving arms.

16. In a bacon stringing machine, a table for supporting the bacon, hanger driving arms mounted in said table and having an angular slot adapted to engage a pin fixed in said table and provided with inwardly projecting hanger engaging portions, guide rods fixed in said table, slide-blocks mounted upon said guide-rods and pivotally connected to said hanger driving arms, levers pivotally mounted in said table, a swinging rod connected to one end of said levers, weights carried by the other ends of said levers, arms fixed to said swinging rod and pivotally connected to said slide-blocks, a handle fixed to said swinging rod, whereby said swinging rod may be moved in a downward direction to exert a pull on the slideblocks and thereby move the hanger engaging arms downwardly and inwardly and into engagement with the hanger and forcibly drive the hanger into the bacon, and the said weighted levers adapted to return the parts to normal position upon release of pressure.

17. In a bacon stringing machine, a table for supporting the bacon, hanger driving arms mounted in said table, each having an angular slot adapted to engage a pin fixed in said table and provided with inwardly projecting hanger engaging portions, a swinging bar mounted in said. table, connections between said swinging bar and the hanger driving arms for operating said arms, and a handle fixed to said swinging bar for applying downward pressure thereto to move said hanger driving arms in a downward and inward direction and into engagement with the hanger to forcibly drive the hanger into the bacon.

18. In a bacon stringing machine, a table for supporting the bacon, hanger driving arms mounted in said table, each having an angular slot adapted to engage a pin fixed in said table and provided with inwardly projecting hanger engaging portions, a swinging bar mounted in said table, connections between said swinging bar and the hanger driving arms for operating said arms,

and a handle fixed to said swinging bar for applying downward pressure thereto to move said hanger driving arms in a downward and inward direction and into engagement with the hanger to forcibly drive the hanger into the bacon, the said handle being adjustably mounted upon the swinging bar, whereby it may be fixed in different positions on said bar for right or left hand operation of the machine.

19. In a bacon stringing machine, a table for supporting the bacon, hanger driving arms mounted in said table and having an angular slot adapted to engage a pin fixed in said table and provided with inwardly projecting hanger engaging portions, guide rods fixed in said table, slide-blocks mounted upon said guide-rods and pivotally connected to said hanger driving arms, levers pivotally mounted in said table,- a swinging rod connected to one end of said levers, weights carried by the other ends of said levers, arms fixed to said swinging rod and pivotally connected to said slide-blocks, a handle fixed to said swinging rod, whereby said swinging rod may be moved in a downward direction to exert a pull on the slide-blocks and thereby move the hanger engaging arms downwardly and inwardly and into engagement with the hanger and forcibly drive the hanger into the bacon, and the said weighted levers adapted to return the parts to normal position upon release of pressure, the said handle being adjustably mounted upon the swinging bar, whereby it may be fixed in different positions on, said bar for right or left hand operation of the machine.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand this day of Oct. 28, 1922.

JOHN DVORAK. 

